Endometriosis and the gift of motherhood

When my first period came at age 13, it involved blood clots and extreme pain. I didn’t know what to expect or what was considered “normal,” but thankfully, my mother did. She recognized that my symptoms were unusual and immediately took me to see my pediatrician. I was first prescribed birth control pills, which seemed to help initially, but when my period remained heavy and painful, I was put on a different birth control pill that enabled me to have my period only four times a year. I thought my situation was normal – albeit uncomfortable and inconvenient. No one ever suggested that painful periods could be anything more than bad luck. I would hear women talk about menstrual cramping and see advertisements for medications to relieve menstrual symptoms … I just figured I had bad periods like so many other adolescent and adult women. I believed that for years. Finding answers to years of pain Then, when I was 22, my cousin Emily was diagnosed with endometriosis. I had never heard of it. I figured it was something extreme because Emily’s symptoms were much more severe than mine. Emily’s mother, my aunt Mary Alice, knew enough about my symptoms that she thought I might have endometriosis as well, even though my symptoms were different than Emily’s. Endometriosis is a chronic condition affecting an estimated 5.5 million women in North America — 30-40% of whom become infertile. It occurs when tissue similar to that which normally lines the inside of the uterus ...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Our Patients’ Stories Teen Health endometriosis Marc Laufer Source Type: news